Date Posted:20:06:32 03/01/17 Wed
Thanks Floridared! The key is we need a lot of alums writing the admin regarding the West Stands. Football hasn't had a winning season in over 12 years and the stadium situation is not helping matters. Our lacrosse team just got blown out the last two games and the ugly stadium situation is even impacting their recruiting. It's the little things that all add up.

I guarantee you if Harvard or Yale tore down their visitor section the Crimson/Bulldog alums would be fuming! Many Cornell alums have contributed to Big Red athletics over the years, but it really makes us mad when the university doesn't maintain the stadium's basic infrastructure.

Date Posted:20:38:56 03/01/17 Wed
Seems to me that there might be bigger fish to fry. Overall funding of football comes to mind. A few key examples:

-Only able/willing to purchase new white uniforms last season. Had to wait until this season to purchase the new red ones
-Up until this coming season, thanks to the Football Association, the players/families were charged for their Nike football gear package (socks, under pad gear, training gear, etc.), albeit at a reduced rate, but how many divsion 1 programs charge the players/families for their training gear?
-No indoor facility (in Ithaca, NY)
-Going cheap on post game meals (pizza, fried chicken). Is this how you feed a division 1 football team?
-Skinmping on coaches. Is there a division 1 program in the country with fewer coaches and less experience?
-How about sports performance? Sports performance management? Sports science? Real training and medical staff. Has anyone visited a real PROGRAM? The support system and resources isn't anywhere near where it needs to be. It's a good thing the education is one of the BEST. The alumni network is awesome! The commitment to football is tremendously lacking.

I can live with the stands. Do we want quality recruits? Let's strive for real, quantifiable improvement to the resources that are allocated and can make a real difference first. When they can fill the crescent, then they can put up some more stands.

Date Posted:21:14:10 03/01/17 Wed
Good points. I wasn't aware of the other deficiencies, but I can tell you for certain that the indoor practice facility will be built before the West Stands/with offices/training space underneath them. As I mentioned in another of Sprint's postings before, they already have a large construction pledge toward the funding for that facility, but everything is on hold until the new President gets settled in.

Date Posted:22:01:49 03/01/17 Wed
GoBigRed.......I agree with you on all your points regarding lack of funding, however, it all comes down to a little word we learned in accounting class...REVENUE. When we have a poor stadium situation and we do very little to actually fill Schoellkopf for home games then everything else dries up. I believe Cornell is near the bottom of the Ivy League in terms of what we budget for football. Unfortunately, when our attendance, media coverage, and other sources of revenue continue to decline, so will all other aspects of the program.

I have said this many times on this website over the years that I can see some Ivies like Cornell, Brown, and Columbia actually dropping football within the next decade or two. Problems like not fixing our stadium will only continue the decline in attendance and alumni support, until it's too late and the football program is gone forever.

Date Posted:22:10:36 03/01/17 Wed
Love your support Sprint...Love your enthusiasm for the stands as well. Revenue will come with WINNING. Having visitor stands does not increase a WINNING a percentage.

Date Posted:23:27:24 03/01/17 Wed
Sprint66 - It is not the stands. Winning starts and ends with the staff. Who they have for coaches, what they focus on during the season and off-season and how they prepare for an opponent and adjust in a game.